Is progression inevitable and endless?

[Confucius]

Nice graph!
I assume that the x-axis is time and the y-axis is dopamine levels. If so, I think its pretty accurate.

It which case your question should be about finding your comfort zone. You know you can always escalate, taking greater risks and sacrificing your male side, to elevate your dopamine levels. However, can to be comfortable with lower dopamine levels. Yes, I think so. Even while your dopamine levels are important for experiencing the thrills, and emotional rush, and sexual gratification, etc... there are other neurotransmitters involved in cross-dressing. One important neurotransmitter is oxytocin. Your oxytocin neurotransmitter is associated with the feeling of comfort, love, and bonding. Even while your dopamine levels will decrease you can still enjoy your oxytocin. I believe this is where you will find your comfort zone.

Just limit your cross-dressing in accordance with your needs and your wife's tolerance. Your wife will gain a sense of security and you will find your comfort zone... Yes, this does mean sacrificing some of the dopamine excitement.

[Michala]

Like all graphs the period between the waves may change for individuals but I would suspect the terminology is very accurate. Like ocean waves they are all pretty much the same. It's only the height and length between each wave that changes dependent on the weather just as each of us is dependent on ourselves and our SO's.

[Teresa]

Jennifer,
My opening post when I joined the forum described my CDing like a rollercoaster ride, now your graph proves it !
The difference is my low point disappeared into a dark hole at the bottom of the graph from which I nearly didn't reappear and up slope should be marked medication zone !

[ReluctantDebutant]

What a great chart. What determined the Y axis? I would say my low point was reached about 3 years ago. I am just now starting into my comfort zone which seems to be devoid of dressing.

[LilSissyStevie]

Like they say: the only things inevitable and endless are death and taxes and I'm not too sure about death.

[BLUE ORCHID]

Hi Jenn, Add a couple more hi&lo points and it would look like mine.

[Katey888]

Jennifer,

I'd totally agree that progression is neither inevitable nor endless...

I like the graph as to how it represents a typical scenario for:

A non-TS crossdresser that reveals post-relationship start and has an accepting or tolerant SO

I suspect there will be different sets of curves for TS, non-reveal, non-acceptance, singles and probably some other largeish clusters in our complex community... Now if you can just get a pie chart in there somehow too...

Katey x

[kimdl93]

Preferably cherry...or pecan...or coconut cream...

[Janine cd]

I reached my comfort zone about a year ago and have no desire to explore any further transitioning.

[ReineD]

Nice graph. I wonder if you could put in more before the breaking point? From reading people's stories, it sounds like there's a burst of CD activity during adolescence and then the CDer's interest fades for a while, at least for some people, while they get caught up in dating, marriage, and having children.

Yes, that! Also, I think the Pink Fog peak needs to be quite a bit higher, to then settle down to the middle point between zero and peak.

After the Pink Fog, CDers may be putting on similar clothes, makeup, and shaving just the same when they go out (or dress at home) as they did at the height of Pink Fog, but the thoughts don't seem to permeate their existence as much, or so it seemed to me. Most of the time now my SO can't even be bothered, whereas there was a time when nary an opportunity was missed and it was indeed a top priority.

[heatherdress]

Jennifer - nice chart.

The chart probably depicts a lot of us - but there is obviously no single path or progression which fits everyone. My crossdressing history and progression is quite different. So much depends upon individual situations - age, maturity, living arrangement, occupation, location, economic status, marital status. I suspect there may not be an "indefinite progression" for many who may only have interest in a specific aspect of crossdressing (e.g. - underwear only). Some do not experience hiding or hide all their lives. Some never experience much of a "pink fog".

It does, however, make you think.

[Tina_gm]

It is a good graph overall. Although I think that it has a lot of a stair step type of pattern although overall from a far distance the graph is about right, for most. I do think also though that at certain points later on, things may change, divorce, retirement, kids leaving the nest etc etc, however our circumstances change, then we see a change in the comfort zone status quo. Not that I am anywhere near that, and I have tried hard to not let the euphoria and pink fog states go through the stratosphere. Had I been single when that happened, the endless progression/pink fog spike would be likely sharper and higher for me.

[Annaliese]

Now someone has put it in teams I can understand, Math, make perfect sense now. The endless progression, rationalization, and Comfort zone, x axis, could be put into an odd degree equation, with a local max and a local min for the high and low point. Hiding coming from ( x , y) where x and y are both negative. Thank you.

[KatieV]

The only thing that is endless is a Mobius strip.

[Ally 2112]

With my x wife the only prob was it just kept going up and up .With my last GF it did back off but i did not find my comfort zone until after we broke up

[Seana Summer]

I think this graph represents what many CD go through. My personal graph would be much flatter since I have really had very little "progression" over the years.

[Beverley Sims]

Unlike a lot of habit forming actions I think it is hard to break.
Looking at your graph I feel that you are on the right track.

The initial novelty does wear off and a new interest steps in where you try to refine your actions.
Wives would see it as progression down a bad road.
If you temper your actions a little you do hold the progression back.

The big question is "Where is your comfort zone"?

Find one close to what your wife or SO envisages and you may live happily ever after.

Give and take, cooperation and understanding are the key words here.

Forget tolerance, that is just an unhappy situation.

[Marsha My Dear]

Hi All, what has keyed most of our fights about my CD is 'pushing it too far'. I'm allowed to to some things (legs shaved, toes painted, eyebrows plucked, ears pierced) that are ambiguous about gender when in in public. When my pink fog clears, I realise how exceptionally good I have it. She brings home clothing for me and helps with my make-up on occasion. I've made the decision to live with-in the boundaries we've agreed to. If there's something she wants to change about the arrangement I willingly go along (it usually involves me getting a longer leash). But no more push on my part. Those fights were only outdone by the frank and animated discussions about deception- the worst of the worst. I've found contentment(except I'd like to dress around the house when she's good with it). No more progression here anymore- I'm counting my blessings.

[Giselle(Oshawa)]

if your graph is relative to my situation, then I am at my low point
out to my wife and involved with 2 support groups /clubs and I am
still not happy so I am praying to be in the comfort zone

[Claire Cook]

Jennifer,

What a thoughtful post. I guess we could all make little tweaks in your graph, but I think it covers much of what we go through. For me, it would be a continuously squiggly line that keep going up and up.